D700 flashing "Err"

[cupic]

With the above info understood I have taken off the battery grip and with no lens attached works perfectly
With any lens Err is evident
I have clean the contacts but still the same
Whats the best liquid to do the job of cleaning the contact point


cheers

[John King]

Gidday CP

No way would I put any kind of liquid near lens contacts on either body or lens.

Use a soft, well washed, lint free cloth to wipe the contacts. Also 'exercise' the body contacts using your finger with the cloth between your finger and the contacts. These should spring out fully, quickly and easily.

Also, never touch the lens release button when mounting a lens ...

[arthurking83]

As long as the camera itself is not powered on .. no problem using a quick drying fluid to clean contacts.

Done many a time on my old, poor, well used D300.
I use Eclipse(not out of choice, but out of what's handy and works! ) and a cotton bud(Q-tips).
Camera is off and wipe the contacts clean. Let dry for a few minutes(only needs seconds, but just to be sure).

Lenses are even easier as they should have no power. Dunno about other brands, but Nikon lenses have no power in them .. so contacts are safe.

problem is: it doesn't sound like that's the problem anyhow. Sounds like the camera has a definite mechanical issue of some type.
Is the camera a D700 also? .. or D300 or D750?

[Lance B]

Use Isopropyl Alcohol on a soft lint free cloth like a microfibre cloth on the contacts. This is what I use and does a great job.

I agree with Arthur, it sounds like there is some other issue rather than dirty lens contacts. If it happens with any of your lenses attached, then it is a camera issue. Have you looked at the aperture lever in the camera itself? Does it move up and down freely?

[arthurking83]

I'm thinking more along the lines of the aperture indexing tab.
The slidey looking small protrusion at the (normally) 2 o'colck position(as you look at the camera) right alongside the actual chrome mount.
It can slide from about the 2 o'colck position to about the 11 o'clock position by hand easily and safely. (you can even do so with a body cap still on the camera, but it's fiddly.

This tab follows the lens indexing protrusion, and tells the camera what minimum fstop the lens is at.
Basically if this doesn't work while(ie. broken) you have a CPU lens connected, the camera knows that a lens is connected(because of the CPU), but the indexing tab confuses it.

It's similar to setting an aperture other than the smallest f stop on a lens with an aperture ring.

Two things you can 'try'.

If you have any manual type(non CPU lens) try this and use aperture ring as normal, making sure that the lens is registered in the non CPU lens database in the camera.

if you don't have any non CPU lenses at all that you can mount(doesn't appear so by your gear list), you can use a CPU lens as long as it has an aperture ring for you to set.
You tape up the CPU contacts on the lens so that the camera is fooled into thinking that a lens is not attached.
You then set the aperture you want to try (try something small, like f/8) but again register the lens in the cameras database for it to work.

going by your gear list, the 50mm or 85mm f/1.8 D lens sound perfect for this.

Then you can either take a slow shutter speed test shot, to see if the aperture is stopped down by the camera.
This will determine if the aperture lever actuator in the camera is working at least.

Apparently the aperture indexing tab internals are a common problem for failure. Not that they regularly break, but they are known to stop working.

[Lance B]

I'm thinking more along the lines of the aperture indexing tab.
The slidey looking small protrusion at the (normally) 2 o'colck position(as you look at the camera) right alongside the actual chrome mount.
It can slide from about the 2 o'colck position to about the 11 o'clock position by hand easily and safely. (you can even do so with a body cap still on the camera, but it's fiddly.

This tab follows the lens indexing protrusion, and tells the camera what minimum fstop the lens is at.
Basically if this doesn't work while(ie. broken) you have a CPU lens connected, the camera knows that a lens is connected(because of the CPU), but the indexing tab confuses it.

It's similar to setting an aperture other than the smallest f stop on a lens with an aperture ring.

Two things you can 'try'.

If you have any manual type(non CPU lens) try this and use aperture ring as normal, making sure that the lens is registered in the non CPU lens database in the camera.

if you don't have any non CPU lenses at all that you can mount(doesn't appear so by your gear list), you can use a CPU lens as long as it has an aperture ring for you to set.
You tape up the CPU contacts on the lens so that the camera is fooled into thinking that a lens is not attached.
You then set the aperture you want to try (try something small, like f/8) but again register the lens in the cameras database for it to work.

going by your gear list, the 50mm or 85mm f/1.8 D lens sound perfect for this.

Then you can either take a slow shutter speed test shot, to see if the aperture is stopped down by the camera.
This will determine if the aperture lever actuator in the camera is working at least.

Apparently the aperture indexing tab internals are a common problem for failure. Not that they regularly break, but they are known to stop working.

Good point. I forgot about the aperture indexing tab. Could be the problem.

[arthurking83]

.... and with no lens attached works perfectly
.....

This quote is the vital clue.
The way I'm reading this is that with no lens attached, the camera is working OK.
But when a lens is attached, the camera flashes 'Err'.

Could be any issue really, once the camera has realised that a lens is mounted.

One way to find out is to fool the camera into thinking that a lens is still not attached .. and see what happens.

[cupic]

Yes its my D700.
Im afraid that its the end of that one.
Will use the isopropyl and give it a go but Im thinking its mechanical and terminal
Will see over the weekend


cheers

[Lance B]

Yes its my D700.
Im afraid that its the end of that one.
Will use the isopropyl and give it a go but Im thinking its mechanical and terminal
Will see over the weekend

You never know, it might be an easy reasonably cost effective fix at Nikon. You are only at Wollongong and a trip to Nikon is only at Rhodes.

cheers

[cupic]

Well I clean the contact on the D700 and the Tamron 24-70mm
Now its fine in M only
P,S and A doesn't work with the Err on display but not always really frustrating
I choose to shoot in continuous and f/2.8
Dose this required major investment to fix?

HELP I really need somebody

cheers

[MattNQ]

Well I clean the contact on the D700 and the Tamron 24-70mm
Now its fine in M only
P,S and A doesn't work with the Err on display but not always really frustrating
I choose to shoot in continuous and f/2.8
Dose this required major investment to fix?

HELP I really need somebody

cheers

Agree with Lance's comment, it might be worth just biting the bullet and taking it into a repairer. That way you know for sure what is wrong and how much it will cost

It will cost you of course. I sent mine to Andersons in Qld- from memory I think it was around $65 or thereabouts for them to have a look.
Figured it was worth it to be sure.

[cupic]

Well I dropped of the D750 with the 300mm f/4E on 10.03 and tomorrow its posted back to me.
The firmware update would have taken 1hr at best just hope the sensor/shutter was looked at
We'll see


cheers

[cupic]

Well it been a while and I rang Camera service in CBD sydney gave them the story
And in there opinion its shutter replacement time cost $520
Rang Nikon in Rhodes Sydney and no mention of shutter perhaps circuit board but no rough quote given

If its $520 then its my paperweight for the future

[MattNQ]

Well it been a while and I rang Camera service in CBD sydney gave them the story
And in there opinion its shutter replacement time cost $520
Rang Nikon in Rhodes Sydney and no mention of shutter perhaps circuit board but no rough quote given

If its $520 then its my paperweight for the future

Is that the D700 or D750?
Once the repair cost goes over $500 it is hard to know whether to repair or just put that money into a new body

sent from Earth via tapatalk

[cupic]

Its the D700 so its becoming uneconomical

[cupic]

Forgive me but Im not too technical in errors
With my D700 with nothing attached the camera fires until the buffers strikes the limit
Why?
Is there still life left in the old girl

cheers

[MattNQ]

At best, a life with a partial disability perhaps (for want of a better analogy)

If it fires perfectly with no lens, I doubt if it is a shutter problem as one place suggested to you.

Did you end up trying Arthur's suggestions?

You mentioned above it worked in M on your Tamron. Is that still the case. ?
All you can do is try as many different settings as possible to narrow down when it works and doesn't work.

If you can find a certain setting that works well enough, it can perhaps live out its life with some function.

Eg. My D700 is still fine for some sports as I can shoot wide open. I just can't easily use it for landscape (Which is a pain, as it balances much better on the Joby than the rather portly D3)

[cupic]

The old girl only shoots open wide so it will become as Matt suggested night shoot open wide
as Matt stated above

For those that are interested in how this panned out, I sent the camera off to Andersons.

The problem is a hardware issue - Needs the "I" substrate replaced.

Not cheap. Over $660. (quote does includes sensor clean & grip replacement, which I could opt out of I guess)
Can't really justify that expenditure unfortunately. Thus endeth the D700 experience (well, I can still use it wide open for nightime sport I guess )

I did use it with my plastic 50mm f/1.8 and at 1.8 it doesn't miss a bit but any tiny incriminates Err reigns supreme


cheers
cheers
cheers